No, the ‘60s pop artist won’t personally don respiratory equipment and scale the scaffolding (he’s nearly 75 years old, after all), but his distinctive artistic stamp has found a new canvas: a 40,000-square-foot space on the exterior of Norwegian Cruise Line’s Breakaway.

Cosmic Cruise

When she leaves New York Harbor for the first time next year, the 4,000-passenger cruise ship will be sporting a Max-designed “colorful mixture of New York- and cosmic-themed imagery,” according to Norwegian, which just unveiled the work.

Montague Smith / Wikimedia Commons

In 2004, Max designed the paint job for a Continental Airlines Boeing 777.

The design is classic Max (himself a New Yorker): a montage of planets, landmarks, stars, musical notes and shapes, rendered in a bright constellation of groovy hues on an ocean-blue background. There is no word yet on what coating system or contractor will be used to execute the design.

‘Instant Icon’

"Norwegian Breakaway is New York's ship, and this colorful artwork by Peter Max will make the ship an instant icon," Norwegian CEO Kevin Sheehan says in a statement.

petermax.com

Max created “Different Drummer” in 1968, when critics were calling him “the artist for the millennium.”

Currently under construction at a shipyard in Germany, the Breakaway is scheduled to debut in April 2013 and sail year-round out of New York to Bermuda, the Bahamas and other destinations. At 144,000 tons, it will be the largest ship ever based year-round in the city.

Max has tackled behemoth canvases before, including a giant World's Fair mural and the body of a Boeing 777 that flew for Continental Airlines.

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